Monday, October 27, 2014

A Few Halloween Haunts

By Bixyl Shuftan

It's late October in Second Life, which means Halloween time. As the dark comes earlier in real life, in virtual life various locations are putting up some frightfully fun places. There's too many to go to or list, but I did get a chance to visit a few.

The Return of the Nightmare Walkthrough

Satisfy your hunger for terror with the Return of the Nightmare
Walkthrough. Celebrate Halloween with a fresh house of horrors and a
free hunt for prizes. Face your fears, hunt for pumpkins, and get lost
in the maze of terrors in this October-only event!

Entering this place, it's recommended you have your non-music sounds turned up, and either set the region to Midnight, or have the "Advanced Lighting Model" activated. And remove any facelights or other lightup attachments. There is a lit pumpkin available for you to take to light your way.

If you see any other pumpkins as you go through this haunt, click them, At the end, there's a place to put them, promising a prize if you've found them all.

This place didn't disappoint me. It promised a scarefest, and it delivered with plenty of thrills and chills, the environment was creepy, and the monsters often popped out at just the right time to spook you. Those wanting a more relaxed Halloween thrill might want to look elsewhere.

Fans of Cindy "Zig Zag" Babii were a bit saddened this year when the adult media company ZZ Studios had to leave the sim of the same name and rebuild in Erotica Island. Although a fraction of the size it was, they're still continuing their annual haunt, this year offering their Madhouse.

Taking the teleport over and entering, one faces a journey through a number of dark corridors. The first part goes through the manor, then the scenery changes to a maze of abandoned mine passages, a dark spaceship with nothing aboard but a few corpses (or is there?), even a passage that resembled going down a creature's digestive gut. Should you make it to the end, if you're with a date you might want to look behind you before you teleport back down.

I found the ride *slightly* less edgy than "Return of the Nightmare," but that shouldn't steer you away from seeing it. In my opinion, it's good for taking a date who's already been through some haunts, whom won't be so scared as to run out screaming but will be clinging to you a little tighter.

There were a number of carnival games at the entrance of the Nightmare. The prizes were not for kid avatars. Remember, the sim is rated Adult, and it's not called "Erotica Island" for nothing.

The teleport to the ZZ Studios Madhouse is at Erotica Island (66, 154, 23)

Nance Clowes' 8th Annual Haunted Sim

Welcome to Nance Clowes' 8th annual free haunted sim. There's lots more
to see this year than any before. Fight your way through through
zombies, explore asylums, survive haunted mansions, or just relax with
item hunts and thrill rides.

Nance Clowes' haunted sim was different in that there were four haunted places to see. When you get to the arrival area, the announcer greets you, "Hello! There is a lot to find here! The GREEN area is the Haunted Mansion Tribute Ride. RED is the Zombie Domed City, WHITE is for the Asylum, and BLACK is for Bannons Vanisher." I decided to check out the Haunted Mansion Tribute.

As a tribute to a Disney ride, this one shouldn't freak you out too much. There were some interesting sights such as the stretchable room. For much of the time, you're on a car that slowly goes down a course. Go into mouselook if you don't want a big circle in the middle of your field of vision. Don't expect too many things to leap out and scream. The ghosts here would rather give you a happy wave or a song. This is a good ride if you're with a friend with a low scare tolerance.

With three others lift, I decided to give the Bannons haunt, of which the sign at it 's front called it the "Most Dangerous Ride since 1954." This one was scarrier, though slightly laggy. I was also unable to make my way thought the course, so perhaps it was just a buggy night. I have yet to explore the Asylum and Zombie haunts there.

The landing area to Nance Clowes' Haunted Sim is at LandOurs (210, 46, 601)